"I'll have the sole, please.... I said, I'LL HAVE THE SOLE!"

In today's New York Times, there's a front page article on dangerously loud noise in restaurants, retail stores, and gyms. And do I feel naive! I didn't know that some restaurants hire music designers to engineer the sound to make you order more, eat faster, and leave sooner. Jon Taffer, a restaurant and night life consultant is quoted as saying, "Are we manipulating you? Of course we are. My job is to put my hand as deeply in your pocket as I can for as long as you like it. It's a manipulative business." Do I usually go to the likeliest places to do this (Hard Rock Cafe, the biergarten at The Standard Hotel, the Dutch)? No. But that doesn't leave me with less of a bitter taste in my mouth for the contemporary NYC restaurant scene. In fine restaurants, particularly in France and Italy, the table is yours for the night, the focus is on the food and service, and you're capable of carrying on a conversation with your fellow diners without raising your voice. I'm sure there are plenty of people whose experiences are completely different and would say, "And that proves you're even more naive than you think!" Well, let me have my happy, however deluded, memories of fine restaurants in my travels where the manipulation was subtle, the linens pristine, and the cuisine to be savored.